ingenieria

Cien. Inv. Agr. 34(3): 205-214. 2007
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ARTICULO DE INVESTIGACION

Efecto del sistema y densidad de la almaciguera en el cultivo
de cebolla (
(Allium cepa)
a
César Gómez1 yChristel Oberpaur1
r
Escuela de Agronomía, Universidad Santo Tomás, Ejército 146, Santiago, Chile.
Abstract
C. Gómez, and C. Oberpaur. 2007. Effect of density and seedbed system in onion (Allium
(cepa) production. Cien. Inv. Agr. 34(3):205-214. Production of onion (Allium cepa) seedlings
for transplants is done directly in flat soil conditions or in trays using reduced cell volumes
and highplant density conditions, without consideration of the possible effect that reduced
cell volume can have on crop growth. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate
the production of onionseedlings in two seedbed systems and their subsequent behavior in the
field. Seedling production and transplant establishment were determined with a long-day type
of onion (cv. Grano de Oro) in theMetropolitan Region of Chile (33°-34° south latitude) from
2004 to 2005. The production of covered root transplants was performed in trays with 286 (18
cm3), 432 (10 cm3) and 814 (5 cm3) cells each,equivalent to plant densities of 1144 (low), 1728
(medium) and 3256 (high) plants·m-2, respectively. The production of bare root transplants was
done in boxes with equal plant densities as in thetray system. Next, plants obtained from each
seedbed system and plant density were field transplanted. Based on the results obtained, neither
plant density nor transplant production system affected thepseudo stem diameter 25 days after
emergency (DAE). At 77 DAE, the pseudo stem diameters were 3.8 and 5.2 mm, the root dry
weights (DW) were 4.8 and 6.2 g·plant-1 produced in high and low plantdensity, respectively.
This suggests that the tray system had a minor effect on plant development. At 23 days after
transplanting (DAT) differences in the pseudo stem diameter between the three...